1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a content utilizing method, and more particularly to a method for copyright protection and usage control of a content when utilizing digital content on the Internet.
2. Related Background Art
Recently, because of increasing popularity of the Internet, a sales business of network distribution of digital contents has been attracting attention. However, there have been increasing concerns that the digital contents are illegally utilized without payment to copyright owners.
For this reason, a technology for protecting the copyright has been proposed, utilizing the technology of encryption and authorization, such as MagicGate® of Sony. However, such technology has to utilize a special recording medium having the functions of encrypting and authorization, such as a memory stick. Also, such method cannot be used for exploiting the convenience of a copy distribution of digital contents.
Also, in the conventional content sales, the user pays a price for the content itself, and such price is constant regardless of an amount of usage of the content. As a result, such method has been unreasonable for users with a low amount of usage.